Rami - I don't think they do. I think they are trying to cover a complex issue with a very simple, one dimensional viewpoint. They are also catering to their audience and sponsors, they follow the views of their readership. They, like most media has began to cater to the polarization that is happening. Its hard to find a media outlet that covers a broad spectrum of the news.

Rami: Studies have been done about young Arabs (under age of 29), and the opinions of youth are very similar to adults. Only difference is that about 30% want to immigrate from their country to build a new life. There isn't a big difference between what adults and young people view as their grievences. Also, young people get out into the street first and demonstrate in part because they have the greatest stake in fixing the problem so that they have a better future for themselves.

Stanley Wearden: Duties of both journalists and scholars. Both come from nations and have some sort of patriotic duty presumably, and some have connection to intelligence agency of their country, too. Where does their duty lie in the end?

Rami: Everything that I do is published and I encourage people to go to my column for clarity, and I'm happy to answer questions around what I've written...

Stanley Wearden: Duties of both journalists and scholars. Both come from nations and have some sort of patriotic duty presumably, and some have connection to intelligence agency of their country, too. Where does their duty lie in the end?

Josh Stacher: I'm staying committed by listening to the people that are researchers in my field. I also make it my own policy that I do not have conversations with any government unless it is on the record. I feel that I'm being patriotic by exposing the story instead of telling my goverment to impose policies that might impead the progress of the people that I study.

Rami Khouri: The uprising has been going on for decades. The thing that caused the explosion was the dehumanization of individuals by their own society. The domestic inequities that left ordinary people feeling like their civil right were denied and that their fundamental rights were taken away from them. It was an excercise of their fundamental right to express their God-given rights.

Rami Khouri: This uprising has been going on for a long time. Initially, citizens began working within the system, trying to change the political system, but the regimes were very strong and resisted any change. The U.S. and Soviet Union at the time supported these regimes. So this tension has been building for a long time. The dehumanization of citizens by their own people. Domestic inequalites and abuse of power, their fundamental rights as a human have been taken away. "Hold your help up you are an Egyptian, you can be proud again"

Stacher makes an interesting point about the offensiveness of some of the names people have given the uprisings. Arab Spring communicates something because it's so widely used, but it falls short and connotes something temporary.

Responses(1)

Rami Khouri: the long boiling resentment and anger has been bulding up for decades and decades. We ignored it. The intangible element that made the difference was the dehumanization of the people.

I think what he's saying is that ordinary people didn't matter to the regimes and the systems. I still can't believe a self-immolation created this. It's mostly that I can't believe anyone would set themself on fire.

Khouri also notes that these didn't begin as policy discussions, based on people who wanted to argue tax policy or the economy. These are people who wanted basic human rights.

The Western media has gotten it wrong becauset they have been influenced by government policy. If the US said Iran was a threat, the media would seek information confirming that. There needs to be a separate frame of mind. There has also been an over-emphasis of religion over politics.Media made Al Qaeda (sp?) seem like such a large portion of the Arab world, but the reality is Al Qaeda makes up such a small percentage of the Arab world. No more than factions in the US that plan or have executed terrorism on US soil. exp. (Oklakhoma City bombing, abortion center terrorists)

How often have you seen images in the western media of average Arab citizens involved in civic activities? You only see the extremists covered.

Joshua Stacher:

Rather than rely on cultural understandings, we need to look at political and economic explanations for why people act the way they do. We can't take our own cultural standards at look at other cultures under the same lense. How can you ask if democracy is compatible with Islam, without also asking if democracy is compatible with christianity?

If you want to understand why Martin Luther King marched from freedom, you don't read the bible (which he quotes), you read the U.S. Constitution. So when you ask wh

Joshua Stacher: This is the first time since the 1910s or so that Arab citizens have taken the initiative. They have uprisen against these powerful regimes that have ruled across the Arab world. These events were unpredictable. The meda needs to work to get the story right.

Rami Khouri: Two young men died and have sparked this large revolt. These were normal people. This is a Rosa Parks moment for the Arab world. Their sacrifice has lit a fire in normal citizens who have been fighting for so long. Media portrayal of the Middle East misses these important facts. They rely too heavily on the religious aspect of the Middle East.

Rami Khouri: Citizen uprising for their liberty and freedoms in the Middle East is a bigger story than those of Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Israel. 350 million arabs have been fighting and struggling for decades for a normal life and the media has not covered that movement properly.

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Join the Civic Commons and the Northeast Ohio Consortium for Middle East Studies on October 4th @ 5pm for Did we miss it? Journalism, Academic Research, and the Arab Uprisings featuring Rami Khouri, and Joshua Stacher and moderated by Stanley Wearden. Register for the event here

Can't make it? Watch the livestream here and follow the conversation during and after the event.